Reunion
by flowerofsin
Summary: She loved a man that she had every reason to hate. Pairing: Edward/Sally.


Title: Reunion

Rating: R

Pairing: Edward/Sally

Word Count: 1,399

Summary: She loved a man that she had every reason to hate.

Sally walked down the sidewalk during the afternoon, doing more window shopping than actually buying anything. A boring diversion from her even more boring routine. Her husband was away, and she wasn't sure if she felt happy at having a break from him or lonely at his absence. Even before they'd gotten married, it had felt more like a scam. Stopping at one of the storefronts, she gazed at the dresses in the window before noticing a familiar shape out of the corner of her eye. Turning toward him fully, Sally knew she should be angry when she saw him there, leaning against the nearby lamp post, watching her the same way he used to years ago. Blake canted his head when he'd caught her eye, a faint smile hovering on his lips.

"Hey, Sally. Long time no see."

Her lips pressed together in an angry line, she knew she should just turn and walk away. Or maybe even rush toward him and shout. Cause a scene in front of everyone in the afternoon bustle of the city. But she didn't. She stood there as he pushed off from where he leaned, sauntering toward her. His posture radiated confidence yet his face gave away a bit of the uncertainty he must have felt inwardly. Blake's approach was slow enough to allow her a moment of escape, a moment which she didn't take, before she was gazing up at him. Blake's hand began to rise from his side and for a moment she feared he would touch her, or maybe that feeling was more of something else, but he reached for his cigar instead. Sally watched as he removed it with deft fingers, smoke spilling over his lips as he exhaled. When he smiled at her then, broad and almost endearing, she _did_ yell at him, pointing a finger and railing briefly before she turned to storm off. Sally made it several feet down the sidewalk before there was a hand on her shoulder. She spun to face him while jerking away from his touch. Blake had the nerve to look surprised, almost _hurt_, which angered her even more, yet her gut twisted with more than just disgust.

"Come on, Sally. Don't be this way. I just want to talk to you. You hungry? Let's go somewhere, catch up on some things."

And somehow Sally found herself seated at a table in a diner across from him, the two of them making small talk as if they were old friends. Or rather Blake was making small talk while she mostly listened. The way Blake behaved, you'd think that they were friends, but the situation was much different than that, wasn't it? There was that _subject_ that hung heavy in the air between them, but neither of them seemed to want to address it. Blake asked how things had been going with her, and she responded with how happy her life was now. He pretended that he didn't notice how forced her smile was. Blake told her about what had brought him back to town, a tale that wasn't a complete lie. It wasn't like he could let her know what kind of work he did now. Blake even managed to tell a story that had Sally laughing despite herself.

"It was good seeing you again, Sal. Catch you later."

It was midnight, and Sally was in bed alone. It was midnight and she lay with her knees tucked up toward her chest, the blanket up over her shoulders. She berated herself once more mentally, wondering what was wrong with her that she felt something much different than disdain at the sight of Blake with his handsome face and his broad smile. He could be charming if he wanted to be, she realized as she replayed the day's events. But he was anything but charming back then, striking her in the gut to double her over in pain. Shoving her to the ground onto her belly, her cheek pressed against the cold hard floor as he pulled down her underwear. And yet she'd found herself not wanting Blake to go as he moved to rise from his seat in the diner, the sunlight playing off his dark hair as it streamed through the window. Sally pulled the covers around herself more tightly, but it didn't drive away the chill.

"Funny meeting you here, Sally."

Two days later, Sally ran into him again, and she knew it wasn't a coincidence. She knew she should be angry that he was following her around, but there was a strange thrill that went along with the knowledge. She'd missed that sense of being pursued, of walking into a room and having the eyes of men travel her body hungrily and women gaze at her in jealousy. All that seemed to be a thing of the past with her marriage that seemed more a business arrangement than a union. Until Blake came to see her again, gazing at her like how he always had, intense and hungry even now. It was nice to feel wanted, to feel desired in a life that was more bland than she'd thought it would be. And perhaps she saw more than this in those eyes of his, in that smile that was an attempt at charm but was more of a leer. And somehow, Sally didn't mind.

"A pretty thing like you shouldn't look so lonely. I knew that guy wouldn't know what to do with a woman if he managed to catch one," Blake told her as he guided her down the sidewalk, a hand on the small of her back.

Sally found herself led into the apartment Blake was staying in while he was in town. A look that was part surprise and more of something else graced her face as she gazed at the picture that hung on the wall of the living room. A poster of her when she'd been Silk Spectre, her foot on the back of a kneeling man in prison stripes. From a time when she was the talk of the town and not a woman with fading looks and faster fading fame.

"You've still got plenty of looks," Blake said. "More than the other gals around here." And Sally knew then that she'd spoken her thoughts aloud.

Minutes later, she was pressed against the wall where her picture hung. Minutes later, Blake's hands were sliding over her body in a sweet caress and the lips against hers were more gentle than she'd thought they could ever be. And alarms were going off in her mind and a part of herself was screaming at what must be her temporary insanity. But then Blake broke the kiss long enough to tell her how sorry he was. And he was murmuring against her lips how he couldn't stop himself then, or help himself now. Then Sally wondered if maybe she'd wanted this then but had been fool enough to tell him no. Fool enough to anger him. But Blake was anything but angry now as his lips trailed down her body. As he knelt before her to push up her skirt and do things she'd only heard about, her head hitting the wall with a dull thud as she arched.

Soon, Sally was in the bedroom, her clothing draped over a chair. The sheets were slick with her sweat as she shifted under Blake, his eyes burning as he gazed down at her, his hands warm as they slid over her skin. Her legs wrapped around his waist as he pushed into her more tenderly than she'd thought possible of him. That she could inspire this combination of passion and affection in a man like him spoke to things part of her didn't even think she deserved.

Turned onto her side with sweat cooling on her skin in the warm summer air, Sally bit her lip. Regret, shame and disbelief struggled for dominance within her mind. But when a warm body spooned against her from behind, an arm sliding around her as Blake shifted closer in sleep, her heart leaped into her throat. He nuzzled against her hair murmuring something in slumber against her skin that made her smile, and Sally knew that she was lost.

End


End file.
